Consumers' Federation of Australia

1 September , 2020

Money on your mind – campaign to improve mental and financial health

Beyond Blue and Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) are encouraging people to access free support services to cope with the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The organisations have launched the Money on Your Mind campaign to support people experiencing financial stress and mental health issues. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows 41 per cent of…

1 September , 2020

Major reform agenda underway for the food regulation system

The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation has begun a reform agenda for the food regulation system aimed at ensuring that it remains strong, robust and agile into the future. The reform agenda is being progressed via several interconnected projects and will include stakeholder engagement. The projects are: 1. Review of the…

1 September , 2020

Banking Code monitoring body calls for further improvements in breach reporting

In a report released on Monday, the Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) has urged banks to improve their breach reporting to the BCCC. The report summarises banks’ self-reported breach data for the six months that followed their adoption of a revised Banking Code of Practice on 1 July 2019. The report outlines that banks have…

31 August , 2020

Indigenous Australians lose millions to scammers

Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is advising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers to protect themselves after it was revealed they had lost millions of dollars to scammers. Fair Trading Executive Director Brian Bauer said Indigenous Australians last year reported more than 2,700 scams resulting in $2.1 million in losses, and that figure was…

28 August , 2020

New safety standards for toys containing magnets

The Morrison Government has approved a new mandatory safety standard for toys with loose small high-powered magnets to help protect younger children. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s new mandatory safety standard limits toys with loose small high-powered magnets to scientific sets for children aged eight years and over. Children are at risk of serious…

25 August , 2020

Pricing policies need fixing to give grocery shoppers better value for money during COVID-19 crisis

The consumer peak body, the Consumers’ Federation of Australia (CFA), says the federal government should help consumers get greater value for money during the current economic crisis. CFA chair, Gerard Brody, says “The federal; government could help consumers save hundreds of millions of dollars a year by completing and implementing quickly the review of the…

18 August , 2020

ASIC warns Indigenous consumers about scams

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, as one of the agencies responsible for the National Indigenous Consumer Strategy (NICS), urges Indigenous consumers to be wary of scams, including anyone calling them out of the blue asking for personal details or offering investment opportunities. As part of National Scams Awareness Week, which began on 17 August…

18 August , 2020

Young people facing debt tsunami as they borrow from their future to make ends meet

New consumer data released today by the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) investigates the experience of consumers during the three months from May to July and raises serious alarms about the debt tsunami facing young people (18-34) as they try to make ends meet during COVID-19. 70% of young Australians are now concerned about their…

17 August , 2020

National Scams Awareness Week: ‘This Is Not Your Life’

The ACCC has launched a podcast series for this year’s National Scams Awareness Week to provide Australians with tips on how to protect their personal and financial details from scammers. The five-episode podcast series, ‘This Is Not Your Life’, is produced by Julian Morrow, the creator of ABC TV’s consumer series The Checkout. The podcast,…

12 August , 2020

CFA Standards representative Elaine Attwood AM receives international award

Congratulations to Elaine Attwood AM as the joint winner of the ISO Simon Holland Award 2020, which is aligned with the ISO Excellence Award. It recognises her outstanding contribution to the work of ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnology in the previous year and acknowledges the input and support Elaine offered to the ISO/TC 229 community and her…

7 August , 2020

Superannuation trustees compensate members wrongly classified as ‘smokers’

Superannuation trustees that were classifying new members as ‘smokers’ by default and charging them higher life insurance premiums have ceased this practice, and some trustees have remediated members for the extra premiums paid. Between 2017 to 2020, ASIC engaged with seven superannuation businesses, (comprising nine superannuation trustees) that had been, either at the time or…

7 August , 2020

Consumers and COVID-19: from crisis to recovery

Today the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) released its June briefing for the Consumers and COVID-19: from crisis to recovery research initiative. With governments, regulators, business and the broader policy community challenged to provide sufficient support for consumers during the COVID-19 economic crisis and into recovery, CPRC’s research aims to: Better understand the impact that COVID-19 is having on…